Department for Education

Higher Education and Skills in Local Communities

Michelle Donelan: Today I am announcing a national programme which will be delivered by The Open University. The Open University will partner with 10-12 further education (FE) providers in England to support the delivery of high quality level 4 and 5 courses in areas where there is currently limited provision. As a government we are working to level up the country, and access to high quality education at level 4 and above is a vital part of this. There are too many communities who do not currently have access to local, convenient, high quality higher education (HE) and I am determined to address this.  We want people wishing to train and upskill throughout their life to have local access to a new type of HE, focused on providing the higher level skills to meet local employer needs, with shorter courses that deliver the skills they require rather than only three year degrees.  The Open University will be working in partnership with a selection of FE providers and employers at a local level to understand the skills the economy needs and ensure the education system give people those skills.  We know FE providers are at different stages and require different levels of support to take the important step into delivering good quality level 4 and 5 courses that employers want. So I have asked the Office for Students to commission a HE sector leader to provide validation and course support to help FE providers develop and deliver high quality higher technical courses that meet local skills needs. We are delighted that the Office for Students has appointed The Open University to deliver this vital programme. The Open University will work with FE providers who need support developing and delivering courses and having them validated. They will help people in areas currently underserved by HE courses to access a high-quality course accredited by a known and recognised institution. The Government is providing up to £10m to support The Open University with the costs of setting-up and running the programme over the next 3 years. The Open University is inviting bids now from local FE providers who are ambitious about delivering high quality level 4 and 5 courses. They will be announcing which organisations they will be supporting in the autumn, and we look forward to working with them and the Office for Students to level up opportunity. This new programme comes alongside a £32m Higher Technical Education Skills Injection Fund for colleges and universities which will be invested in equipment and facilities to support technical studies, and boost training opportunities with businesses in key areas such as digital, construction and health care. I would like to use this statement to encourage education sector leaders to engage with these programmes of support. Together we can build an even better HE offer that is fit for the 21st century and delivering on the priorities of local employers and learners in every part of the country.

Unit for Future Skills Update

Alex Burghart: In February, it was announced in the Levelling Up White Paper that the Department for Education would be setting up a new Unit for Future Skills. The White Paper recognises that good information is necessary for the skills system to respond effectively to emerging needs. The Unit has therefore been set up to improve the quality of jobs and skills data, working across Government to make this publicly accessible.Rich sources of information on skills and jobs already exist. However, this information is often held by various parts of government and in different or incompatible formats. Furthermore, data in the public domain is typically not presented in a way that is most useful for its intended audience, whether learners, providers, local areas, businesses, or researchers.Today, the Unit has officially launched with its first data release. This covers the jobs, sectors and regions people work in after gaining a qualification. This is the first time we have brought together data on higher and further education to make it easier for people to see where their training can take them: for example, showing the routes young people take through high-quality technical education to get good jobs where they live. This data is an early example of what the Unit can do, and we will work with others to improve this and release more useful information.The Unit will work extensively with a variety of stakeholders to enrich our employer-led skills system and make it more responsive to the economy’s needs. The Unit covers England only, but will work with devolved administrations to share learning and insights.Alongside the data from the Unit for Future Skills, the Skills Productivity Board has also published its remaining reports, concluding its work. The Board is an expert committee set up in 2020 to provide independent, evidence-based advice on skills and their contribution to productivity. Findings from the Board emphasise the need for sustained focus on data improvements and formed the basis of the Unit’s priorities.You will be able to follow the Unit’s work and access its products through a dedicated website, which has also gone live today (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/unit-for-future-skills/). The Unit will continue to work with other government departments to bring together different datasets and make these widely available, including through APIs (application programming interface).Specific priorities for the Unit over the next 6 months include:- Improved dashboard on career pathways providing users with more detail on which post-16 qualifications support successful employment in specific sectors within a local area (improvements to be designed based on user feedback on dashboard released today).- A skills demand dashboard. Development of a product based on newly available data from the ONS, showing what types of jobs are being advertised in which local area- Research projects on future skills demand forecasting and a UK specific skills taxonomy. The latter will underpin better linking of data, enriching its potential- Roundtables and stakeholder workshops, to gather feedback on the Unit’s launch products and define its longer-term priorities

Ministry of Justice

Delivering justice for victims

Dominic Raab: Today the Government is publishing a draft Victims Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny, ensuring we will deliver on our manifesto commitment to pass and implement a Victims Law.We are also publishing a wider package of measures that put victims firmly at the heart of the criminal justice system. These are set out in the Government’s response to the consultation “Delivering justice for victims - a consultation on improving victims’ experiences of the justice system”. The consultation launched in December 2021 and ran for eight weeks. It received over 600 responses, alongside important feedback gathered through 39 engagement events with frontline professionals and victims.In response, we have set out a wide range of measures to send a clear signal that the justice system must deliver justice for victims. The Government is also announcing the new cross-government Victims Funding Strategy, which will drive better outcomes for victims by tackling barriers to sustainable funding and ensuring consistent commissioning. Collectively these measures will amplify victims’ voices in the criminal justice process, improve the support victims receive, and strengthen oversight of criminal justice agencies. In doing so, they will help victims to have confidence that there is the right support available and that if they report crime, the criminal justice system will treat them in the way they should rightly expect. The draft Victims Bill will:Enshrine the overarching principles of the Victims’ Code in primary legislation and set out key entitlements in secondary legislation, to send a clear signal about what victims can and should expect from the criminal justice systemIntroduce a joint statutory duty on PCCs, health and local authorities to collaborate when commissioning support services for victims of sexual, domestic, violence, and serious violence so that services are more holistic and better coordinatedIntroduce a statutory definition of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) and Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs), accompanied by statutory guidance at a later date, to increase awareness and consistency of these roles.Place a duty on criminal justice agencies to collect data and keep under review their compliance with the Victims’ Code and to take into account feedback from victims about their experiences. It will also introduce a duty for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to take a convening role in monitoring compliance locally so that there can be a better view of how the system treats victims.As a result, the Victims’ Commissioner will no longer be responsible for reviewing the operation of the Victims’ Code but will still be able to engage on compliance at a national level through their other functions.Provide the Justice Secretary, Home Secretary and Attorney General with the power to require criminal justice inspectorates to undertake regular joint thematic inspections on victims’ issues, to ensure clearer and sharper focus on how victims are treated.Require the Victims’ Commissioner to lay their annual report in Parliament, and require relevant agencies and departments to respond to recommendations in that report, to enhance scrutiny of the actions being taken.Remove the need for victims of crime to raise a complaint via an MP before it can be investigated by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, to simplify the process for victims wanting to escalate complaints against public bodies.This will be an exception for victims of crime, for whom approaching an MP to share a potentially traumatic experience is more likely to be a barrier to making a complaint and does not constitute an indication that the Government intends to remove the ‘MP filter’ more widely. The accompanying measures announced within the consultation response will:Increase the Victim Surcharge by 20% so that offenders pay more towards vital victim support services. This change is being made via statutory instrument.Introduce a duty in the Victims’ Code requiring the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to meet victims in certain cases before a hearing takes place, where the victim is willing to do so.Work with criminal justice inspectorates to enhance their oversight of victims’ experiences and use ratings to improve performance, including more regular focus on victims’ issues and experiences in all inspections.Improve agencies’ communications on complaints, ensuring clear and accessible points of contact to help victims make and progress their complaints.Raise the profile and professional standing of ISVAs and IDVAs, through the introduction of a non-public register, a network for support providers and an annual report.Include information about community impact statements in the Victims’ Code to promote their use in appropriate cases and amplify the voices of communities impacted by crime.Work with the judiciary to introduce a Victims’ Code entitlement for Victim Personal Statements in the Mental Health Tribunal where the release of offenders is being considered, so that victims are able to explain the impact of the crime on them.Give victims the right to attend a parole hearing in full for the first time, should they wish to and subject to the circumstances of the case and agreement of the Parole Board.Allow victims to ask questions within submissions to the Parole Board and require that the Board takes account of these when reaching their decision, so that victims’ voices are amplified in the process.Together these measures will contribute to our plan to give victims the justice they deserve, and build back a better, stronger, fairer country.

Northern Ireland Office

Recognition of Ulster Scots as a national minority and funding for An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge, the Irish Language Investment Fund

Brandon Lewis: Today, the Government is recognising officially Ulster Scots as a national minority under the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and is announcing £4 million in funding for An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge, the Irish Language Investment Fund. This delivers on two of the Government’s commitments in the New Decade, New Approach agreement (NDNA).NDNA placed an emphasis on respect for, and mutual understanding of, Northern Ireland’s diverse national and cultural identities. The carefully balanced package of measures within it will benefit everyone in Northern Ireland.Ulster Scots have a proud history and a distinct language, heritage and culture, and this recognition will afford them the same status as other minorities in the UK. The recognition of Ulster Scots is without prejudice as to whether they meet the definition of a ‘racial group’ under the Equality Act 2010, as only the courts can rule on this matter.The Irish language forms another key part of Northern Ireland’s rich tapestry of identities, languages and cultures. Through the NDNA financial package, the UK Government will make available £4 million to be provided to An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge for capital grant funding to non-profit organisations promoting the Irish language.The Government is proud to deliver on the commitments it made to the people of Northern Ireland in NDNA, and today’s announcement will support that vision of greater inclusion, tolerance and openness in Northern Ireland.